5 Minutes With Ron and Michele Legge

For McCool Travel’s 65th travel profile, I am pleased to introduce you to Ron and Michele Legge. Ron and Michele sold most of their belongings and have been full-time travelers on a middle age gap year (or two) since January 2014. They share their experiences on Legging It.
The Legge’s bio:
“Ron and Michele are an Australian couple in their 50s, who have decided not to wait until we retire to travel the world but to give up their jobs and take a gap year (or two). Leaving home in January 2014, they flew to Malaysia then travelled overland for 5 months to England. They then purchased a motorbike, have ridden from the top to the bottom of the UK, explored parts of Europe and are now in Morocco.”

Ron and Michele Legge, Legging It
Ron and Michele Legge, Legging It

Ron and Michele Legge

Hometown…
Ron grew up in Northern New South Wales and Michele in New Zealand.  We have lived in many parts of Australia but Perth Western Australia is home now, it is where our children live.
Always in my luggage…
It is now our laptop, without that we would be lost. We book accommodation, research destinations…..where would we be without technology?
3 favorite home-away-from-home places…

  1. Sanur Bali—we stay in a small local hotel and it is a great place to chill.
  2. Georgetown (Penang) Malaysia—we love the street food, the street art and just the feel of the place.
  3. New Zealand—the scenery is amazing and it is a small country so you can get around easily.

A favorite travel memory is…
Sitting in Nha Trang in Vietnam, drinking coffee and playing cards, this is when we formulated our plan to travel long term
3 favorite travel brands…

  1. Tripadvisor—gives some great insight into places and also lets you ask people who have been to the destination questions.
  2. Couchsurfing—we hosted many surfers at home and now also enjoy surfing when we get the chance. It is a great way to get a local experience and learn about local cultures. We have met amazing people from all over the world through this site.
  3. Man in seat 61—this site will help you with public transport anywhere in the world. We used it extensively to plan our overland trip from Malaysia to England.

3 money-saving travel tactics I use are…

  1. Trail Wallet—a budgeting app that keeps a tab on our spending, it also shows the cost of things in your home currency so you can work out if things are in your budget.
  2. Booking.com and Airbnb.com for accommodation. We also try and couchsurf and housesit when we get the chance.
  3. Use sites like Groupon all over the world you can often get discount tours, meals, and accommodation.

3 ways that I have fun while traveling are…

  1. Ride motorcycles when we get the chance
  2. Trying local food, Ron is a bit more experimental than Michele but we try.
  3. Try and meet up with local couchsurfing groups to meet locals and attend events

8 word (or less) travel mantra…
Don’t stress you can’t see and experience everything
most memorable souvenir…
a child
favorite cheap eat…
Roti Canai Malaysian Local Breakfast

Ron and Michele Legge, Legging It
Ron and Michele Legge, Legging It

recent discovery…
Morocco—what an amazing country and such friendly welcoming people
I am fortunate to have met…
each other, as we both have the same zest for traveling
I would like to meet…
a local wherever we go to learn more about their culture and lifestyle


Thank you very much, Ron and Michele.
Follow the Legges on FacebookTwitterGoogle+, Instagram, and Legging It.


Check out McCool Travel’s previous profilesMcCool Travel presents tips from travel experts in our 5 Minutes interview series—featuring travel industry giants, super frequent travelers, and adventurous persons. Previous 5 Minutes post: Travel Past 50.


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22 thoughts on “5 Minutes With Ron and Michele Legge”

  1. I loved your choice of questions! You asked them things that I wanted to know. What a delightful couple – I am so inspired!

  2. Great profile Charles, and congrats Ron and Michele for following your passion! Thanks for sharing your story and tips. Maybe we should try couch surfing too!

  3. Good questions and answers but I’d like to know more about the child that’s a souvenir! I assume that was a while ago or there’s been a change in plans! 🙂 How nice that two people with a matching passion and willingness to break with convention found each other!

  4. I love reading about other couple travellers and what a lovely couple who have no problems seeing the world their own way. I will be following them with interest as they have more adventures. Like them, meeting local people is always a highlight.

  5. Fun to learn about Ron and Michele. When I read about couples who have sold everything and embarked on a nomadic life, I get tempted to tell the hubby that it’s time to do the same. But…. in reality, it’s not the time for us — not yet. I love their “most memorable souvenir”.

  6. What a fun couple! I love their story and hope they get to travel to many more amazing destinations.

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